Michelangelo

Michelangelo (or Mike or Mikey) is a fictional character, one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). His bandanna is typically portrayed as orange (although all four Turtles wear red bandannas in the comic series) and his weapons are two nunchaku, though he has also been portrayed using other weapons, such as a grappling hook, tonfa, and, in some fan art (such as the famous Joe Madureira's) a kusari-gama. Nunchaku are illegal in some countries, so they were edited out of some showings of the TV series in Europe. He is a natural athlete, and is considered the fastest turtle. Michelangelo is the most light-hearted and relaxed of the Turtles.

Like all of the brothers, he is named for a famous artist -- Michelangelo, painter of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Unlike the one for whom he was named, however, the spelling of the Turtle's name varies. It has been alternately shown as both Michelangelo and Michaelangelo.

More fun-loving than his brothers, he was given a much bigger role and was more popular in the 1987 cartoon series, directed at a younger audience, than in the more serious original comic books. He came to epitomize the late 1980's and early 1990's popular culture incarnation of the TMNT, coining most of their catch phrases; hence, he is possibly the most famous Turtle. Because of his more carefree nature, most seem to view Michelangelo as the youngest of the Ninja Turtles, although they are all actually roughly the same age.

Because Kevin Eastman's original "ninja turtle" concept drawing (1983) portrayed an unnamed turtle with nunchaku strapped to its arms, some consider Michelangelo to be the first Ninja Turtle created.